Taking into account the recommendations of the Competition Council to ensure the basic principles of fair competition, changes have been made to the regulations on the use of municipal pay parking lots, which provide for the cancellation of reduced prepaid tariff rates for parking lots in tariff zones B, C and D, if the user of the pay parking lot uses the Riga resident’s card for payments.
The new procedure shall come into effect from September 1 this year.
The Competition Council expressed objections to the use of the Riga resident’s card in its current form, thus, by setting a single tariff for all “Rīgas satiksme” users and for the service providers who provide payment options, the basic principles of fair competition will be observed. With the introduction of a 20% discount for payments in zones B, C and D of the pay parking lots of Riga municipality with the use of the Riga resident’s card, the advantages of payments with a text message or mobile application could actually be used only by users of one application, without ensuring competition.
The decision to reduce prepaid tariff rates for the use of parking lots in tariff zones B, C and D if the user of the pay parking lots uses the Riga resident’s card for payments was made in 2016. The aim was to reduce the traffic flow in the historical centre of Riga in tariff zones A and R, however, the data show that the advantages of the Riga resident’s card are only used in about 6% of transactions.
With regard to public transport, the discounts provided for in the binding regulations for the Riga resident’s cardholders will be retained.
Amendments to the binding regulations have been supported by the Riga City Council and approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.
Communication Board of the Riga City Council
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